Best Ever Peanut Butter Cookies

As a huge fan of peanut butter, I have long felt that something was lacking from your basic peanut butter cookie. The flavor just wasn’t there and the calories certainly weren’t worth it.

Recently, I set out to right the wrongs that I suspected had kept the peanut butter cookies of my past from achieving their true potential. Topping the list, of course, was the junk, hydrogenated vegetable oil peanut butter that we used to think was normal.

My current favorite brand is Laura Scudder’s All Natural Nutty, and that’s where I started. I also substituted raw, turbinado sugar for white sugar, which created a dimension of crunch, due to the over-sized sugar crystals. Lastly, as far as ingredients, cinnamon.

Another goal was not to skimp on size. If this cookie was to achieve it’s desired aim, it was essential that it could be savored beyond a bite or two.

Turns out, great peanut butter proved the basis for a great peanut butter cookie. Mission accomplished and the status of peanut butter cookies has been elevated to a very high place around here.

Ingredients

1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter

1 cup brown sugar

1 cup raw, turbinado sugar

2 eggs

1 1/2 cups natural, nutty peanut butter (preferably Laura Scudder’s)

2 1/2 cups white, whole wheat flour

1 tsp. baking soda

1 tsp. cinnamon

Directions

Preheat oven to 350.

Beat together softened butter and sugars for two minutes at a high-speed until creamy. Add in eggs, one at a time and continue beating. Combine peanut butter and beat until thoroughly blended.

Sift together flour, baking soda and cinnamon.

Combine dry ingredients to wet ingredients and stir until just blended,

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2 thoughts on “Best Ever Peanut Butter Cookies”

We are a huge fan of peanut butter cookies in our house so I am anxious to give this a try. I will be making it with my homemade peanut butter which is simply virginia peanuts processed in the processor until smooth. My friends are nuts for it and beg me for it.
What is raw, turbinado sugar and what is the advantage of it?
The whole wheat flour is a nice healthy option that I am anxious to try with these cookies. I don’t usually try to make cookies healthy (it usually ruins them), but I am guessing that the peanut butter would cover up the flavor of the whole wheat nicely
Also, you are one of the best cooks I know, and if you say this recipe is to die for, I know I can take your word for it.

I’ve started using WHITE whole wheat flour, which is essentially whole wheat flour ground super fine and it doesn’t have the same wheaty consistency. I use it for everything. The raw, turbinado sugar is cane sugar that has not been through the same refining rigamarole as white sugar. Brown sugar is just white sugar with some molasses added back in (approximately one Tbsp. per cup). I like the raw sugar because it is closer to the real deal and the crystals are bigger, which can add to the crunchiness cookies. Recently, when I needed some powdered sugar for a recipe, I zapped raw sugar in a coffee grinder for several minutes. The result was close to powdered by not exactly the same.